As Allied forces bombarded Libya for a third night, President Barack Obama faced growing criticism at home and abroad over his decision to support the military campaign in the north African country.
There have been complaints at home that Obama should have consulted Congress and obtained its approval before supporting a UN Security Council resolution authorizing allies to enforce a no-fly zone and use any measures necessary to protect civilians.
He has been criticized for everything from using military force at all, getting involved too late and getting involved in a conflict that is not of vital interest to the United States, reports the Los Angeles Times.
"The president seems to have angered almost every major group: He's either done too much or too little or he's done it too slowly," James Lindsay, a former official in the Clinton White House, told the Times. "There's a very real political risk for Barack Obama in all of this."
An editorial in the Boston Globe aruges that it can be a violation of the U.S. Constitution to not receive Congress's approval for sustained military engagement, and Obama should have had the informed consent of Congress before such military action in Libya.
"Congress is expected to check and balance the chief executive’s military authority, both by passing judgment on the exercise of that authority and through its power of the purse. That is why the 112th Congress should even now go ahead with debating, and taking a stand on, U.S. action in Libya," the editorial reads. "As U.S. military involvement against Gaddafi intensifies, it is good to have the sanction of the international community. The sanction of Congress, however, is indispensable."
Earlier, the bombardment of Libya and possible killing of more civilians came under criticism by the Arab League.
Obama defended his approach during his tour of Latin America Monday, saying it was "very easy to square our military actions and our stated policies."
He also sent a letter to Congress arguing that he authorized strikes that will be limited in duration and scope and that will support America's national interest.

The United States is moving to hand command of the strikes to its allies in Europe, but there was confusion Monday over who will take control and from where, the New York Times reports.
Obama has stressed that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must step down or be forced from power. This "policy" announcement came after the top U.S. commander, Adm. Mike Mullen, insisted on Sunday that the removal of the Libyan leader was not the goal of the current allied military operation.
Obama said that as part of the international coalition now enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya, he had "authorized the United States military to work with our international partners to fulfill that mandate," according to the Australian Broadcasting Commission.
"Now, I also have stated that it is U.S. policy that Gaddafi needs to go," he added, speaking in Santiago, Chile.